Nambu World: Military Marksmanship Proficiency Badges
Marksmanship competitions were held regularly in the Japanese military, with badges, certificates and sometimes other prizes (such as sake cups) awarded to the best marksmen. The above is a period photo from my collection showing where the badge was worn (please see copyright notice below!!). Here are a couple of the proficiency badges close-up.
Army Marksmanship Proficiency Badge (First Variation)
Text to come
There are photos of the same two variations of badge shown here on the following Japanese-language website, but it does not provide any significant details on them (the page has a hundreds of photos, so it will take a long time to download even if you have high speed internet service!). 大日本帝國陸海軍 その他の軍装品・資料 Ⅲ_0a
Army Marksmanship Proficiency Badge (Second Variation)
Text to come
Senji heisotsu kyokasho (Wartime soldier's textbook) Meiji 37 (1904)
Kaisan hohei suchi (Revised essential knowledge for the infantryman), originally Meiji 33 (1900), revised edition dated Showa 5 (1930)
Saishin kyoren kyotei by Infantry Major Ippei Saito (undated, but Showa era)
Unit Marksmanship Proficiency Badges
It appears that some military units also awarded their own distinctive badges for marksmanship proficiency. These are not official Imperial Japanese Army badges, so as far as I know there is no documentation on them. In other words, what you read here, which is not much more than an explanation of the design and inscriptions on each badge, is about as much as is known about these rare but interesting badges.
32nd Infantry Regiment Marksmanship Proficiency Badge
This round badge measures 27mm (1-1/16") in diameter, with a 4mm (1/8") stud on top that holds a 7mm (9-32") ring. The star is a silver colour and the rest seems to be some kind of bronze alloy. The front has the usual crossed rifle symbol. The back has a vertical column of characters that says sha-geki-sho (shooting prize) and a horizontal row that reads from right to left: yama-gata-ho-hei-dai-san-ju-ni-ren-tai (Yamagata 32nd Infantry Regiment; Yamagata prefecture was the home base of the 32nd regiment. It is in Yamagata Prefecture in the north of Japan, just west of Sendai.
53rd Infantry Regiment Marksmanship Proficiency Badge
This silver-coloured badge is shaped like a shield. It measures 19.5mm (15/32") wide by 24mm (15/16") high, not including the stud (another 3mm, or 1/8") and that oddly-shaped pin at the top, which is about 27mm long (1-1/16"). It has the common motif of the Army star above two crossed rifles. Note the positions of the bayonets that are fixed on the rifles. They are shown as being on top of the barrel rather than below it. This suggests that the rifles being shown are intended to be one of the very early 11mm single-shot Murata rifles, the Type 13 (1880) or Type 18 (1885). Both of these rifles had the bayonet on the right side, while all the Arisaka rifles had the bayonet in the position we are now accustomed to, i.e. under the barrel. It would be kind of hard to show a side view of a bayonet fixed on the side of the gun, which is why a certain amount of artistic license seems to have been used. The portrayal of these rifles might suggest it is a very old badge, from the period when those rifles were at least in memory, or it may simply harken back to the great achievement of Japanese industry that those rifles represented. Or it might be just that putting the bayonets in the proper position would have interfered with the space for the inscriptions. Let's zoom in a little closer to look at those inscriptions.
The front (left photo above) has two vertical columns of script. On the far right are the two characters sha-geki (shooting) and on the left, yu-to (excellence). On the back (right photo), the right column says ho-hei-dai-go and the right column ju-san-ren-tai. Combined they mean "53rd Infantry Regiment". The 53rd Regiment was based in Tottori, a city in Tottori Prefecture in the region of Japan known as Chugoku. It is on the Sea of Japan coast sort of north of Okayama.
Mystery Regiment Marksmanship Proficiency Badge
This badge is something of a mystery. The only writing on it is the two silver-coloured characters on the front, yu-sho, meaning victory. With no other writing to identify it, I have classified it here as a unit military badge because it has the crossed rifle motif as well as the well-known military symbol, the sakura (cherry blossom). The shape of the sakura blossom on which the rest of the design is superimposed is the shape of the official Imperial Japanese Army marksmanship badge, and indeed of all the IJA proficiency badges. The badge measures 25mm (15-16") wide across the top by 26mm (1-1/32") high, not including the stud. The stud is another 3.5mm (5/32") and the ring, 8mm (5/16"). Since there is no writing to link this badge to a unit, probably the only way I will ever be able to identify it is if I see a photo of a soldier wearing one as well as collar tabs identifying his regiment.
First Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment Marksmanship Proficiency Badge
This silver-colored unit marksmanship badge measures 38mm by 24mm (1-1/2“ by 15/16“). The front shows a bullet speeding towards a target with three loose cartridges in the lower right. The reverse shows the IJA star and a sprig of cherry blossoms. On the front in the upper left is the character sha, as in sha-geki (shooting). At the top of the reverse is the character shō (prize). Below that is horizontal right-to-left script ho ni-roku (26th Infantry Regiment), vertical script dai-ichi dai-tai (First Battalion). Across the bottom, right to left, is the date, Sho-wa jū-nen=Showa 10 (1935). The home of the 26th Infantry Regiment was in Hokkaido.
Last updated: August 17, 2009. All contents are copyright Teri unless otherwise specified and may not be used elsewhere in any form without prior permission.
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